Birds Not of a Feather Sticking Together I: Black-faced Spoonbill with Eurasian Spoonbill. (Craig Brelsford)

Elaine and I recorded only 1 bunting all day: a single Chestnut-eared Bunting. Hengsha was bunting central last autumn, and almost exactly a year ago Elaine and I had seven Emberiza species in a single morning on Temple Mount on Lesser Yangshan.

Birds Not of a Feather Sticking Together II: Common Starling with White-cheeked Starling. (Craig Brelsford)

In the past year, Elaine and I have seen Common Starling with White-cheeked Starling on three occasions in three widely separated locations. On 8 Nov. 2014 at Sì Hé Cūn (四合村) near Lake Poyang in Jiangxi, we found 80 Common Starling among 160 White-cheeked Starling; on 23 July 2015 at Wūlánnuò’ěr (乌兰诺尔) near Hulun Lake in Hulunbeier, Inner Mongolia, we found 1 Common Starling among 15 White-cheeked Starling; and now this latest sighting. Common Starling is well-known to birders in Europe and North America (where it is an introduced species), and it is common in parts of western China, but in eastern China it is supposedly only a vagrant.

Beautiful ‘Red-bellied Rock Thrush’ Monticola solitarius philippensis, ssp. of Blue Rock Thrush. The species is locally common at coastal sites around Shanghai. It prefers rocky areas but can make do with concrete breakers set up along the shore. Here a female is perching atop an outhouse. (Craig Brelsford)Elaine and I spent our final hour on Hengsha snipe watching. High-speed photography of flying snipe not only is pleasurable but also can be an aid to identification, as the camera captures details that the eye can miss. This is Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago. Nikon D3S, 600 mm + 1.4x TC, F8, 1/5000, ISO 12800 (that is correct: twelve thousand eight hundred!). Camera mounted on Manfrotto MVH502AH video head and Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 carbon fiber tripod. (Craig Brelsford)

Hengsha is complicated to get to, and the reclaimed land where birders go lacks trees and thus forest birds. If it had even the microforests of Nanhui, then our total of 72 species might have been 80 to 90, and if in addition even a small part of the giant project were run as a nature reserve, then the list might have topped 100! Still, a day at Hengsha may be the single most interesting birding day available in Shanghai. The place has a remote, even wild feel, and the air is fresh.

Featured image: Elaine Du viewing birds on Hengsha Island. In the top-left corner of the image, the three white dots are 1 Black-faced SpoonbillPlatalea minor associating with 2 Eurasian SpoonbillP. leucorodia.

On Saturday 24 Oct. Elaine and I noted 53 species on Lesser Yangshan and at Nanhui. The most notable birds on Lesser Yangshan were Eurasian Wryneck, Hair-crested Drongo, and Hawfinch. We saw a “flock” of 3 Northern Boobook. At Nanhui, Eurasian Woodcock was found in the microforests along the sea wall. Brown-headed Thrush and Red-throated Thrush are uncommon passage migrants in the Shanghai region.

Once again, our team consisted of Michael Grunwell, Stephan Popp and wife Xueping, and Elaine and me. The moment with the woodcock was team birding at its best. Walking along the road atop the sea wall, I stumbled upon the woodcock. It exploded from cover and left the forest. I immediately knew I had scared a brown non-thrush, but I hadn’t seen the long bill. “Brown bird!” I cried out. The woodcock appeared from behind a line of trees just long enough for Michael to see it. “Woodcock!” he cried out.

This migrating Eurasian Sparrowhawk appeared briefly over Lesser Yangshan. A China tick for Michael! (Craig Brelsford)

Featured image: Xueping Popp (L) and Michael Grunwell (R) in one of the microforests on landward side of the levee at Nanhui. During migration season, these plantations of locust trees contain an astonishing number of woodland birds.

A 7 km stroll at Century Park this morning netted 24 species, with 3 Japanese Grosbeak leading the list. 2 Black-browed Reed Warbler were in the reedy fringe of the pond near Gate 7. Winter visitors Dusky Thrush and Yellow-bellied Tit were present. Black-faced Bunting was the sole representative of Emberiza.

The Japanese Grosbeak that we saw most clearly was an adult. It was readily separable from Chinese Grosbeak by its larger size, simpler wing coloration (black primaries with large white patch in middle), and less-extensive black cap.

Elaine and I closely watched Black-browed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps. Both birds were making their characteristic harsh churr; one was warbling softly. Watching the reed warblers was not only enjoyable, but also necessary to eliminate the similar Speckled Reed Warbler A. sorghophilus, a bird I have yet to tick. Birders will do well to scrutinize A. bistrigiceps, a common species usually found in the same reedy habitats as A. sorghophilus, an endangered and poorly known species that with luck just might be discoverable in the Shanghai area.

I’m thinking buntings are a bit late this year; could warmer weather be causing them to move more leisurely southward?

Featured image: Japanese Grosbeak, Lesser Yangshan Island, 17 Oct. 2015. In Shanghai, Eophona personata, a passage migrant, is much less commonly seen than Chinese Grosbeak E. migratoria, which breeds in parks in the city. The two species are readily separable by the larger size of E. personata as well as its simpler wing coloration (all-black primaries with large white patch in middle), less extensive black cap, and lack of black tip to bill.